The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-08-18
FLozInIAN.J
We Ancient Mariner.
CARRABELLE, July IS. 1887.

CARRABELLE, July 25 1887
Editors Fgoridtan July "a 1887, will long be
be remembered by every member of our associa-
ton The annual excursion exceeded in every
particular our best anticipations. We had de-
iightful weather and smooth sea, as well as a
pine land breeze. Our run out took Us about
ten knots south southeast Of our last years fish
ing grounds, and there We evidently struck the
home oi the turbOt, as no other kind of fish were
caught. On cur return. when running al ten
knot rate, the pilot rang the short stop bell, and
deck. and the Commodore inquired the cause
Dead ahead" said the pilot, a. is an oyster bar
there must have been an earthquake since we
came out sir" Out came the chart-some one
remarked that optical illusions were common on
such excursions, but our pilot never spices the
main brace when on duty. Every one on board
saw what had attracted the pilots attention but
what puzzled US all the most was the fact that
tine oyster bar was in motion, and whatever di-
rection the boat was turned il persisted iu keep
ing dead ahead of US, l: was something OF q
puzzle, but the Commodore decided to run under
slow bells and keep a sharp lookout, tine oyster
oar probably decided To fellow our example, as
its rate OF movement corresponded with ours.
When about half mile from ahore we stopped
our boat and watched with our glasses. To our
surprise the oyster bar headed for the beach
We then ran in as tar as the depth of water
wonld permit and dropped anchor, TOOK the
yawis, determined To fathom this mystery of the
deep, and we were well rewarded /. proved to
be an enormous turtle of the loggsrhead species
mis- upper shell completely covered with oysters
and barnacles He was speedily dispatched, and
as soon as the meat was sufficiently cooled in the
ice ches, was rapidly converted into steaks and
soup for our evening repast. The upper shell
was turned over TO the antiquarian committee
for inspection, and that they performed their
duty well is shown in the following report which
was made during the evening:
Admiral As chairman of your Committee
On Antiquarian Research, I am duly warned tina.
this is the season when the disciples of Isak
Walton are, il ever inclined to exaggeration re-
lative to the size and number of their catch, but
the rules Of our association forbid the least
shadow OF prevaricatI0n, nor IN our statements
are we to run on the larboard side of anything
relative to marine matters We have long
searched for some appropriate and ancient en-
Otem IOr our 2s4OClAtlOu, anu We nave al last
found it in our examination of the upper shell of
this venerable turtle. Upon removing several
layers Of the several varieties of small shells, we
have been rewarded by the discovery Of the let
tiers de N-1526. There, venerable sir, is an
tiquity for We ancient mariners! Fairbanks in
his History of Florida, page &c. tells US that
Panfilo de Narvaez was skirting along the coast
of Florida in 1928; in September and October of
that year he was in this immediate vicinity If
ne or any of mis- followers did, at that time mark
on The shell of this magnificent specimen of
cheloaiG ins6ricGtG these letters and date then it
must now be three hundred and sixty years OF
age, allowing it to have been one year old when
marked-truiy an ancient mariner and worthy
OF respect from our venerable association"
II has been decided that when the new club
house is erected this shell will find csnspicu-
Gus place in our banqueting hall. l nave not
time to write more OF our enjoyable trip. will
say. however, if editors at the North want real
serpents they will find plenty, as well as
devil fish, in the Gulf We saw one serpent, of
ordinary size only, that when swimming along
held his head up so that Al first we thought we
were about to run into the smoke stack OF q saw
mill.